Greetings everyone! What a nice looking community. Found ya'll through a web search today as I was curious about care and keeping my betas happy. I'm a brand-spankin' new beta owner! So.. naturally I had no idea they needed so much more. The betas were purchased on a whim as there was a sale on a split 1/2 gallon tank. Not sure if I'd rather try to split a 10 gallon tank for them or just get two separate ones when I change them from their current home. Regardless, even if small, their current home is much nicer than the little tubs they were living in for who knows how long! I got a red and pink colored one that I named Valentine, and a blue and red one named Prince. :)

A divided 10 gallon might be a bit cheaper for you to do since you'll only need one heater, one filter etc...

If you like the idea of individual tanks, the 2.5 gal or 5 gal. Aqueon mini-bow kits are pretty nice. In the 2.5 you would use a 25w heater and depending on how warm the room temp. stays in the tank room, you could possibly use a 25w in the 5 gallon but here in the Northeast, I use a 50w.

I've spent all morning looking at tanks online for Prince and Valentine. I think I'd rather seperate them, as Prince is my boyfriend's and Valentine is mine.. and having them together may cause un-needed stress.

I did some skimming around the other threads about tank-mates and noticed that these guys don't seem to get along with any other fish or marine animals. That's a shame, I was really hoping they'd at least be able to have something in there to help keep the tank clean. About 12 years ago or so I and my step-father had a freshwater aquarium full of all kinds of fish. Admittedly, he mostly took care of all the important stuff, but I don't recall we had to clean that tank very often, it pretty much took care of itself. It was possibly a 20 gallon or so? I don't plan to go that big with a tank for these guys, I like having Valentine on the shelving attached to my desk.. which is a base size of 12.5"x16" .. so I don't think I can do anything bigger than a 5 gallon. Is there much I can do so I don't have to be changing the water all the time?

Hey there! I'm a new betta owner as well! (hence my username). Your bettas sound cute :) I myself have a male blue veil tail named Mojo! You can see him as my avatar picture! Welcome to the world of Betta owning! :D